1. Field
The disclosed embodiment relates to the field of the containment of methods that involve high risks of emission of particularly toxic or radioactive substances.
It relates more generally to a dry curtain containment device for securing infrastructures involving high-risk processes when risks of explosion and blast (pyrotechnic, chemical, etc) and risks of emission of toxic chemical substances or of radioactive substances are present.
Its objective is to afford collective protection in an industrial safety and civilian safety environment.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
When a method combines high risks of explosion and blast with high risks of emission of particularly toxic or radioactive substances, it is desirable to be able to contain the method within an infrastructure such as a building that opposes the spread of these substances.
Depending on the amount of energy involved in the event of an explosion, it may be illusory, or at the very least prohibited, to create a building that is totally sealed in the event of a blast.
In the case of a building that is not sealed, it is possible to limit the amount of effluent emitted by defining a discharge surface that will allow the building to maintain its integrity, this discharge surface operating as a relieve valve.
In the context of the presently disclosed embodiment we are assuming a building that is resistant to a blast and does not collapse.
Even if a portion of the toxic or radioactive substances is emitted at the time of the explosion through the discharge surface of the building, immediate recontainment of the building at the discharge surface is highly beneficial and makes it possible to greatly limit, or even eliminate gaseous or particulate emissions after the blast and thus limit the risk of harmful effects on personnel and surrounding populations.
The containment solutions for communal protection in the field of industrial risks are at varying stages of development.
In the event of a fire, containment by a curtain of water triggered upon detection of a fire and fire-break partitioning are nowadays widely used and numerous devices created according to this principle are available.
The creation of containment zones for gaseous or particulate emissions is well known for installations that do not carry a risk of explosion.
For completely uncontained zones, abatement technologies employing curtains of water are widely used.
The disadvantages with containment using a curtain of water are that its effectiveness decreases over time and that its autonomy is limited or requires a continuous supply of water.
There is also a recontainment technology using an automatic or controlled moving door, but the main problem is that of guaranteeing that the door remains functional after the effects of the blast and notably the shockwave, the impacts of fragments or the deformation of the building.
Furthermore, these doors take a non-insignificant time to operate.
A dry curtain device is also described in French publication number FR2999637 A1 filed on 20 Jun. 2014 in the name of the applicant company and incorporated here by reference in its entirety.